Biscuit in a dado or rabbit?

[Upscale]

My mistake. I wouldn't go with biscuit joints for shelving. Dados are strong, easily fitted and certainly not prone to failure if a cabinet racks a little, whereas biscuit joints would fail.

[B A R R Y]

I've done lots of work and saved Tom's description and pictures.

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[Bob Alexander]

[mac davis]

Ok.. If I'm understanding you, you aren't really asking about ADDING a biscuit to a dodo, but replacing it with biscuits??

I'm not a "fine" woodworker, especially for things in my shop.. Guys like Ken Vaughn build jigs that are nicer than most of the furniture in my house, and I envy that attention to detail, I think..

For my shop(s) I do butt joints with biscuits and they seem to work and hold up fine.. Most have backs for added rigidity and are wall mounted, so for my use, I don't see a need for fancier joinery.. Most are pretty much plywood boxes with shelves and/or doors, no carcass involved..

The dado center support is probably a good idea, but might be ok with a butt joint and biscuits.. It would seem that a dado would be pretty easy and could be done with either saw or router..

OTOH, I'm pretty much a turner and NOT good at flat work, so YMWV

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Chris Friesen]

Almost certainly yes.

I build a roll-around cabinet for my "benchtop" 16-speed drill press to sit on. The drill press weighs a lot. The cabinet and three drawers are all made of 3/4" MDF using butt joints and biscuits. The cabinet top sits on the sides, which in turn sit on the base.

I made it as an experiment to see how it would hold up, and so far a year later it's as solid as ever.

Chris

[B A R R Y]

And the pictures are where?

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[Larry Kraus]

It sounds like a reason to buy a good RAS for your shop.

Every good project deserves a new tool.

[Chris Friesen]

Ah heck...see "biscuit and butt joint drill press cabinet" on abpw.

Chris

[dan]

What's a RAS?

[Lee Michaels]

Radial Arm Saw.

They used to be a mainstay of buiders and woodworkers. But has fallen on hard times with many people now considering them to be some kind of monster consuming poor innocents everywhere. Many people like the newer and smaller sliding compound miter saw.

[Pat Barber]